Collin Gillespie at power forward for Villanova? Whatever it takes

The senior isn't known for his rebounding, but an ankle injury is limiting him. So he's helping Villanova where he can.

Villanova guard Collin Gillespie defends St. John's guard Montez Mathis.Read moreJohn Munson / AP

Published Feb. 11, 2022, 1:30 p.m. ET

When the final history of “Hey, you know what? Collin Gillespie was a pretty tough player for Villanova” is written, this week gets at least a footnote.

Gillespie is good to go Saturday against Seton Hall, said so himself on Friday, but that’s different than being 100% for Seton Hall. Gillespie put himself at 75 to 80% … which tells you something in itself.

Speaking after Gillespie, Jay Wright threw in a little asterisk about seeing how Gillespie is before Saturday’s game at the Wells Fargo Center.

Of course, Gillespie was at some lesser percentage Tuesday against St. John’s, a day after Villanova’s coach had described Gillespie’s ankle sprain as “severe,” before he played 25 minutes at Madison Square Garden.

“The trainer said he’s probably not going to play,” Wright said Friday about the St. John’s game. “At our shootaround, he said, ‘I want to try.’ He didn’t even go through the shootaround. But we said, ‘Let’s just look at you on the court, try to do some defensive slides, try to shoot, see what you look like.’

“Our trainer said during warmups, ‘He says he can go, he looks pretty good.’ We didn’t practice or prepare to have him out there. He kind of played like a power forward, you know, just defended and rebounded. Had 10 defensive rebounds. It was really impressive. A lot of courage.”

In fact, while Villanova won by 75-69, Gillespie had maybe the craziest stat line of his career. In 26 minutes, he made no shots (in five tries), had zero assists, zero turnovers. But he had 10 rebounds, all at the defensive end, plus a couple of steals. For the only time in his career, his KenPom.com offensive rating was a perfect zero. Yet nobody on either team had more defensive boards.

“Early in the game, when he had that breakaway layup and fell down, I knew — it wasn’t a breakaway, a transition layup — I knew he wasn’t right,” Wright said. “I was thinking we’d just use him for ballhandling against the press. I didn’t realize it was going to turn into a Moses Malone evening.”

“I’m feeling better. It’s just day-by-day, just trying to get healthy,” Gillespie said of where he stands now. “I’m getting back to as healthy as I can possibly be, getting a lot of treatment for it, a little bit of rest here and there. … No excuses, just trying to go out there and help the guys in whatever way possible.”

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They’ve kept Gillespie off his feet since Tuesday, Wright said. Justin Moore, also back playing after a sprained ankle against Marquette, didn’t practice, “But at least him, we know he can play,” Wright said.

With Gillespie, they don’t know, but they know.

“There’s no different approach. Still be aggressive, take what’s there, and play off my jump shot, try to do all the little things,” Gillespie said. “There’s nothing really changed. Just play through it.”